On Earth Day, consider Arbor Day
On May 11, UND will celebrate its new Tree Campus Higher Education award with an Arbor Day tree-planting event
Today being Earth Day, an event taking place next month is worth calling attention to. That’s because the event will center on one of the finest environmental features at UND: the campus’ stately and billowing trees.
Back in March, UND was honored by the Arbor Day Foundation with the 2020 Tree Campus Higher Education award. And on May 11, the University will highlight that award at an Arbor Day celebration, which will take place just to the west of the Hughes Fine Arts Center (near the Chester Fritz Parking Lot) at 1 p.m.
At the Arbor Day event, trees will be planted, the Arbor Day award will be celebrated, and President Armacost and others likely will deliver remarks, said Jared Johnson, UND arborist.
“We’re planning on planting five trees on that occasion,” Johnson said. “Probably four different deciduous and an evergreen, so it’ll just be a mix.”
Planting different trees gives UND a more diverse – which means more disease-resistant – tree population, Johnson said. And beyond that, a key element in selecting suitable trees is their eventual size.
“You always want to make sure it has room to grow,” he said. “So we can plant, say, a bur oak, and then if I plant a smaller ornamental tree, they won’t compete because the oak will get substantially larger.”
Such are the day-to-day decisions of an arborist; at UND, Johnson helps manage about 6,000 trees. His success at that task was a key part of UND’s Tree Campus Higher Education award, which the University had been thinking about and working towards for several years.
UND and environmental stewardship
The Tree Campus Higher Education program recognizes colleges and universities for successful campus forest management and for engaging students and staff in conservation goals. As of 2020, only two other campuses in North Dakota had achieved this distinction, according to the Arbor Day Foundation.
“Year after year, UND is voted the most beautiful campus in North Dakota, and trees are a very big part of that,” said Mike Pieper, associate vice president for facilities, at the time of the award.
“This is a wonderful honor that represents not only Jared and others’ hard work, but also UND’s focus on our campus as a Living Learning Lab – a place that adds to students’ experiences from the day of their very first visit throughout their entire lifetimes as alumni.”
The Tree Campus Higher Education designation also helps highlight UND’s commitment to environmental stewardship, Pieper said.
Signs and other materials highlighting the award are in the works, and eventually will be displayed in prominent locations such as on University Avenue.
Meanwhile, Johnson will go about his task of managing UND’s 6,000 trees. “This year, we’re probably going to plant about 100 trees on campus property, plus we’ll be getting another 70 or so for future plantings,” he said.
All of which represents an especially farsighted investment in the future of UND. For as the proverb holds, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
